NASA Supports Research to Advance Earth Science - EARTH

Through a new prize competition, NASA is engaging minority serving institutions (MSIs) to bring ideas for new information technologies that will help address climate change. The prize competition, the MSI Space Accelerator, comes from a new partnership between NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, the Minority University Research Education Project within the Office of STEM Engagement, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California, and Starburst Accelerator in Los Angeles.

The MSI Space Accelerator competition is designed to engage under-represented academic institutions and help NASA make significant advancements in the areas of machine learning, artificial intelligence, and the development of autonomous systems. The best ideas will be awarded up to $50,000 in prize funding to each institution.

“As we aim for the cosmos, preparing to return to the Moon with the first woman and first person of color, we are exploring every potential and untapped talent right here on planet Earth,” said Shahra Lambert, senior advisor for engagement and equity at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “NASA is committed to help address climate change and this competition will join our two most precious resources, Earth and our youth, to work hand in hand to create a more sustainable planet for generations to come.”

This prize challenge follows similar competitions recently sponsored by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate that foster innovation and encourage cost efficient ways to develop new technologies. The current competition will also include mentoring from autonomous systems experts at JPL, and will feature business accelerator services from Starburst to help align the ideas with NASA goals, provide the competing teams with business acumen, and expose them to venture opportunities and potential customers outside of NASA.  

For this pilot challenge, the technical focus is to create systems that operate without human oversight for future science missions. NASA invites participation from minority serving institutions that can offer capabilities in the design and/or demonstration of tools that can perform effective monitoring of such autonomous systems to diagnose problems, and optimize, reconfigure, and recover from failure. These systems should learn and adapt to improve their behavior over time, including acquiring, modifying, and transforming their activities by augmenting their knowledge on how to perform tasks more effectively and efficiently.

The prize competition will be conducted in two rounds. In round one, institutions will submit research papers – due on March 16, 2022 -- that broadly describe the capability being offered and how it might be applied to an Earth observing system need, as well as whether the idea represents an existing product or a concept that still needs to be matured. Judges will select the top 10 papers for advancement to the next round.

Round two is the live challenge event, currently scheduled to be held on May 5, 2022. During the event, the participants are brought together in a pitch day forum to make oral presentations about their ideas to a judging panel of NASA program managers. The judges will select up to three institutions for the prizes, which are comprised of the cash awards, mentoring, and participation in the accelerator program operated through Starburst. Opportunities for follow-on funding are anticipated. NASA’s Advanced Information Systems Technology program is planning an open solicitation in the summer of 2023 that will include a topic on autonomous systems for Earth Science. Awards under that solicitation may be worth up to $1 million per year.

To learn more about the MSI Space Accelerator and to apply, please visit: https://nasa-space-accelerator.com/

Source: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/2022/nasa-supports-research-to-advance-earth-science

 

High-flying NASA ‘NACHOS’ Instrument May Help Predict Volcanic Eruptions - EARTH/UNIVERSE

NASA is launching a prototype instrument that could make it easier to monitor volcanic activity and air quality. Perched aboard a CubeSat about 300 miles (480 kilometers) above Earth’s surface, the “Nanosat Atmospheric Chemistry Hyperspectral Observation System,” or NACHOS, will use a compact hyperspectral imager to locate sources of trace gases in areas as small as 0.15 square miles (0.4 square kilometers) – about the size of the Mall of America in Minnesota. NACHOS is part of Northrop Grumman’s 17th resupply mission to the International Space Station from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia.

File photo of a Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft in the grip of the International Space Station's Canadarm2 robotic arm. Credits: NASA

If successful, NACHOS will be the smallest, highest resolution space-based instrument dedicated to monitoring atmospheric trace gases like sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen dioxide, paving the way for future Earth-observing systems that will not only help predict volcanic eruptions, but also monitor air quality around specific cities, neighborhoods, and even individual power plants.

“A dormant volcano just waking up may emit SO2 before there is any detectable seismic activity. That gives us a chance to identify a potentially erupting volcano before it actually blows,” said Steve Love, a researcher and task lead with the Space and Remote Sensing Group at the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).

Atmospheric trace gases from natural and human-made sources provide scientists with unique insights into a wide variety of Earth systems. For example, nitrogen dioxide, often produced by burning fossil fuels, negatively impacts human health and can serve as a tracer for carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change) that results from human activity.

A researcher holds NACHOS, fixed to a CubeSat with its solar panels unfolded. Credits: Los Alamos National Laboratory/Logan Ott

“When we recognize that these gases are present and can localize their sources on a sub-kilometer scale, we have the opportunity to take action and minimize negative health outcomes,” said Love.

But monitoring trace gases requires instruments sensitive enough to gather high-resolution data; traditionally, that’s meant creating larger satellites equipped with a full suite of powerful sensors.

“There are excellent instruments in orbit gathering data on atmospheric trace gases, but they are expensive to produce and maintain. If we want to expand this scientific capability, we’ll need a more cost-effective solution,” said Love.

At just 13 pounds (6 kilograms) and 18 cubic inches (300 centimeters cubed), NACHOS is well qualified to become that solution. In addition to an ultra-compact hyperspectral imager capable of gathering high-resolution data, NACHOS also uses onboard processing algorithms, which reduce both the size of its data transmissions and the amount of time it takes to relay those transmissions back to Earth.

These algorithms run particularly well on small computers, giving NACHOS large amounts of computational power without increasing the instrument’s size or weight.

“More power and less weight set NACHOS apart and make it an excellent candidate for future atmospheric trace gas missions,” said Love.

NACHOS will remain aboard Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft until May 2022, when the spacecraft will unberth from the International Space Station and place NACHOS in low-Earth orbit before the cargo spacecraft reenters Earth’s atmosphere. Love and his team will spend three months commissioning NACHOS before it begins its technology validation and science mission. He expects NACHOS to remain in orbit for about one year.

“That will give us enough time to verify our instrument design and gather enough test data to ensure our technology concept is feasible,” said Love.

A second NACHOS instrument will head to low-Earth orbit in winter of 2022 as part of the U.S. Department of Defense’s Space Test Program.

The prototype is funded through the InVEST program in NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office.

Banner image: NACHOS CubeSat. Credits: Los Alamos National Laboratory

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By Gage Taylor
NASA's Earth Science Technology Office

Source: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/esnt/2022/high-flying-nasa-nachos-instrument-may-help-predict-volcanic-eruptions